Street Mural on Calle Linares, La Paz
and the Garden Walls in Rurrenabaque - Bolivia
Context
Murals commissioned by travel Agency Madidi travel on a major tourist street in La Paz and in the gardens of Madidi travel in Rurrenabaque, to create public awareness on the Madidi National Park importance as one of the most biodiverse regions on the Planet.
Eco-Bolivia is an organization that was instrumental in establishing Madidi National Park in the 1990s. In 2000, the founder Rosa Maria Ruiz led a team from the National Geographic through the Madidi National park, the resulting article drew significant international attention to the area, and assisted in derailing plans for the construction of a hydroelectric dam within the park. The organization ceased to operate and Ruiz now continues her work through Madidi Travel, an organisation committed to the consolidation of the Madidi Mosaic by generating income from sustainable tourism. Madidi Travel currently operates the Serere Sanctuary, a four thousand hectare private reserve, located three hours from Rurrenabaque by boat.
Content
The Dream
by Henri Rousseau (1910)
The mural in La Paz was based on two paintings by French post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau, The Dream (1910) and The Snake Charmer (1907).
His best-known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never left France or saw a jungle. Stories spread by admirers that his army service included the French expeditionary force to Mexico are unfounded. His inspiration came from illustrated books and the botanical gardens in Paris, as well as tableaux of taxidermy wild animals. He had also met soldiers during his term of service who had survived the French expedition to Mexico, and he listened to their stories of the subtropical country they had encountered.
What if Henri Rouseau had gone to the jungle? What would he have seen?
Using these two famous jungle painting of the important primitive early twentieth century painter, the imaginary and dreamy fauna represented originally was replaced in this mural by illustrations of some of the many species that inhabit the Serere Reserve, Some are abundant and happily thrive in the Madidi region, some are on the verge of extinction, some have just recently been identified by science.
The dream
by Henri Rousseau (1910)
The Snake Charmer
by Henri Rousseau (1907)
PROCESS
Rurrenabaque garden murals
The murals in the Madidi Travel offices in Rurrenabaque were inspired by indigenous plants and birds that inhabit the Serere Santuary.
Three of the great birds of the Amazone are represented: The Macaw, the Arpia and the Serere bird, so as three different species of the smallest - the hummingbirds.
Maintaining the tribute to Henri Rosseau, a naive colouful style was maintained, although the representations of the birds and flowers were based on photographs in the wild and scientific illustrations.
Selection criteria for the species was easy - we asked the local bolivian children to select their favourite from a selection of big and smal birds.
Process
The research made to select the species represented in both cases was done through wildlife photographic databases,
Photographs provided by nature volunteers at Madidi travels and images from scientific illustrations on Nature guides on Amazon species.